Nocte Herba
by shahze-san
Summary: Discontinued for being rather shitty. Still up as a badge of shame.


This is the rather long start for a Harry Potter story that's been jumping around my head for a while now. It will loosely follow canon and is a major AU. Therefore OCs are involved and some characters will be OOC. If either of these aren't to your liking then I suggest not reading any further. If you're fine with them then go ahead and read the story while forgiving me for inconsistencies in the writing style and pace of the story at various points as this chapter has been under development for around three months now.

Without further ado, here is the first chapter of Nocte Herba (I used Google Translate so don't complain).

* * *

" _The ones with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approach...Born to parents who thrice defied him...Born as the seventh month dies...And the Dark Lord will mark one as his equal...The Marked will rise with the Unmarked...Together they will have the power the Dark Lord knows not...Power will come at the cost of the Extra...Together they will vanquish the Dark Lord...Alone they will fall...And the Dark Lord shall be forever more...One shall die at the hands of the other...For neither can live while the other survives..."_

Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore; Headmaster of Hogwarts, Grand Sorcerer, vanquisher of Gridelwald, holder of an Order of Merlin First Class, Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot, Britain's representative in the International Confederation of Wizards etc was deep in thought.

For the past year all he could think of was the prophecy revealed to him by one Sybill Trelawney. He had met her on a stormy night a little over a year ago at the Hog's Head inn in Hogsmade.

She applied for the position of Divination professor, a subject he very much wished to wipe off the course at the time. He had gone to meet her, out of politeness more than anything, and was disappointed to note that she possessed none of her great-great-grandmother's talent.

He was about to politely turn down her request and leave when she suddenly went into a trance and made a prophecy - and not just any prophecy; but rather one detailing the fall of Dark Lord Voldemort.

The revelations he received on that night were staggering. There was a way to defeat Voldemort! A means to an end to the age of suffering the prevailed magical Britain and much of it's muggle counterpart.

He immediately gave her the post she desired and had personally escorted her to her quarters in Hogwarts - for her protection - and then left for his office from where he called an emergency meeting for the Order of the Phoenix, a secret society he had founded to combat Voldemort and his dark army.

The members answered his call and had gathered at Longbottom Manor, the headquarters of the group at the time. The Order comprised of a variety of different people coming from various social standings. In some cases whole families had taken up membership; in a few members of a specific family joined and their families supported it while in most cases it was people without the support of any notable family and other notable individuals that joined

The families that had joined included, but were not limited to, the Longbottoms, McKinnons, Bones, Potters and Shacklebolts. From these families every member was of age and had officially joined the Order. Then there were the Prewett twins, Gideon and Fabian, Arthur and Molly Weasley, Joseph Abbott, Henry Macmillan, Arnold Davies and Amos Diggory. These were the people who had joined and had their families backing them and the Order.

Other than them there was also Aberforth Dumbledore, his brother; Minerva McGonagall, Fillius Flitwick, Pomona Sprout, Rubeus Hagrid and Poppy Pomfrey, members of the Hogwarts staff. Alastor 'Mad-Eye' Moody, Edward and Andromeda Tonks, Dedalus Diggle, Elphias Doge, Emmeline Vance, Sirius Black and his wife Laura Baggins, Remus and Clair Lupin and Arabella Figg, all of whom were close friends of his and possessed no familial support.

These were all of the members of the Order of the Phoenix. They had come together under a single banner to rid the world of Voldemort and bring an end to his reign of terror.

They were all seated in the dinning room of Longbottom manor - a magnificent room with a long mahogany table, a high raised ceiling with crystal chandeliers, maroon silk curtains and more chairs than one could account for. The air was tense with apprehension. They had all received emergency summons and were worried about what they would be told as nothing good was ever revealed when he called an emergency meeting.

While most were wrought with worry, some took it upon themselves to make light of the situation.

"Psst Prongs!" Sirius Orion Black, a fairly tall man with black, shoulder length hair and grey eyes, called out to his best friend James Charlus Potter, a slightly shorter man with messy jet black hair and hazel eyes covered by a pair of horn rimmed glasses, who was sitting a few seats away from him in a carrying whisper that caught the attention of most of the room's occupants.

"What is it Padfoot?" James responded in an equally quiet voice, meaning his words were heard by everyone.

"Is it just me or does Lily look a bit fat to you?"

"Now that you mention it, she has gained a bit of weight. But the same can be said for Laura too can't it?"

"I know right! Moony and Frank's girls are the same! Just what have these girls been eating?"

"I don't know Padfoot, I don't know. But I swear, every time Lily gets in bed I hear it creak."

"Same here!" Remus 'Moony' Lupin, a rather well built man with graying hair, said from a few seats to Sirius's left.

"I don't know about you guys but my Alice shakes up the entire manor with every step she takes."

The members of the Order, sans the quartet of women who were the targets of the joke, were smiling, snickering or out right laughing at the banter between the four men. It increased further when they were whacked on the head by their respective spouses.

Dumbledore smiled at the light mood that spread over the entire room. It always brought him joy to see people smile even during harsh times they were going through. His smile was replaced by a frown when he remembered the reason he had called this meeting and how he would be the one to do away with the somewhat happy air.

"Why have you called for us, Dumbledore?" asked Charlus Potter when the laughter had subsided. He was a middle aged man who looked remarkably like his son James. Sitting beside him his wife Dorea Potter nee Black was looking at him curiously with a calculating gleam in her eyes. She was a beautiful woman, same age as her husband, with lustrous black hair falling down to her back in waves, sharp grey eyes and aristocratic features which were common to all Blacks. Despite marrying into the Potter family and having a different mindset than her birth family, she was a shrewd pureblood witch and Slytherin at heart.

Having heard Charlus's question the rest of room's occupants also turned to him. Seeing everyone's attention focused on him, he cleared his throat and said, "In a moment Charlus. Right now we are waiting for Severus and Regulus to arrive."

"Reggie and Snivellus huh? Wonder what's taking them so long?" Sirius asked out loud.

Severus Prince, formerly Snape, and Regulus Arcturus Black were Death Eaters, elite members of Voldemort's army, that had turned away from the dark side and now served as spies for the Order - a very risky endeavor.

Severus Prince, Snape while he attended Hogwarts, was in the same age group as Sirius, James and many others. An unstable home life and his experiences at Hogwarts at the hands of the Marauders - a group consisting of Sirius Black, James Potter, Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew, a short rat-like man - led him to Voldemort and joining the Death Eater ranks. Soon though, he realized the error of his ways and came to him, denouncing his allegiance to Voldemort and offering to become a spy.

Not many knew as to why Severus left Voldemort's side and the man was not forthcoming with the reason. He knew why though, that it was all thanks to Lily Potter. Lily Potter nee Evans was a muggleborn witch with red hair and bright emerald green eyes. She and Severus had known each other since they were children and had attended Hogwarts together. Lily was, and still is, Severus' greatest pillar of support. Severus loved her and still does, even if she had married James Potter, his arch-nemesis at Hogwarts.

The two had met on the battle field and dueled. Lily had defeated him and pleaded for him to reconsider, to turn away from Voldemort and do whats right. Suffice to say Severus had come to him not even an hour later. He had taken control over the house of Prince after reaching his majority and discarded the name Snape, a name he loathed.

Regulus Black's case was similar to Severus', the difference being that instead of Lily, it was Sirius who convinced him to turn away from the dark side. Sirius loved his younger brother and hated himself distancing himself from him when he started attending Hogwarts. It pained him to see his brother in Death Eater robes and tried to reach out to him whenever they came face-to-face. Eventually Sirius got through to him and Regulus joined the Order a few months after Severus.

"Don't call Sev that!" Lily admonished Sirius.

"Come on Lils! Why do you keep defending that greasy bat?" James asked.

"Because he's my friend and your comrade!"

"We know that, but it doesn't stop him from being a greasy bat now does it?"

Regulus and Severus had begun to mend bridges with those that they knew after joining the Order. Sirius and Regulus had reconciled for the most part and were looking forwards to the end of the war so that they could openly go out I public as brothers. Severus on the other hand had some problems. His relationship with Lily was fine but there was too much bad blood between him and the Marauders.

The Marauders tormented Severus throughout his years at Hogwarts and he in return retaliated with some of the darkest curses he knew. Despite all that they were slowly, as the muggles say, burying the hatchet. They were now civil with each other for the most part, Remus more than others, and the numerous insults exchanged between them had lost some of their barb.

Before the argument could escalate any further, one of the Longbottom elves had popped into the room and announced the arrival of the men they were waiting for at the edge of the wards surrounding the manor. That was his queue to allow them in.

The headquarter was protected by hundreds of wards, many of them ancient wards and some that he had erected himself. One of them was an anti-Dark Mark ward that would block anyone who was branded with Voldemort's mark. He had devised it after thoroughly studying Severus and Regulus' marks. They relied on ward stones made of crimson diamond, one of the rarest stones in the world. The gem was necessary for the wards due to it's ability to counter dark magic. The wards not only blocked Death Eaters, but also actively hurt them, causing pain almost equivalent to the Cruciatus Curse.

Due to rarity of crimson diamonds, they were very hard to procure - even with all of the resources at the Order's disposal they only managed to get two. Seeing as they only had two, he erected the anti-Dark Mark wards over two prime locations: Hogwarts, where the future generations of wizarding Britain went, and Longbottom Manor, headquarter of the Order.

The wards were tied to him meaning only he could grant Death Eaters - former in this case - entry.

He opened up the ward for Severus and Regulus and soon enough the two men were seated at their places around the table. Severus was a tall man with a hooked nose and, slightly, greasy shoulder-length hair that framed his face. He was dressed entirely in black and his robes swished whenever he walked; he still hadn't figured out how Severus did it. Regulus was a spitting image of his brother Sirius only with shorter hair and a far more regal poise.

Both men were also uncharacteristically pale, something he noticed with a frown. That meant they too bore troubling news.

"Now that we are all gathered," he began, garnering everyone's attention once more, "we can begin discussing the reason behind today's emergency meeting. But before that, Severus, Regulus, is there something you would like to share?"

The two men exchanged a quick glance before Severus stood up and addressed the whole Order. "The Dark Lord has received some very important news. News that is grave for him but great for us. A prophecy has been made, foretelling his downfall at the hands of a few key individuals."

Severus' announcement set off a wave of conversation and excited whispers. The downfall of Voldemort? A definite end to the war? It was joyous news for the members of the Order. Joyous for all except one.

Dumbledore's expression became incredibly grave and his eyes darkened as he considered the implications of Severus' words. Voldemort knew of the prophecy? How? He had yet to inform anyone so how? Unless...

"Aberforth, was there anyone near Sybill Trelawney's room while I was meeting with her?" he urgently asked his brother. Everyone quietened at the urgency behind the headmaster's words.

Aberforth mulled over the question before replying, "Course there was someone there. Caught a no good drunkard with his ear pressed to the door. Chucked him by the collar myself."

He swore, startling everyone present. Albus Dumbledore never swore, _ever_. The fact that he did so now spelled bad news for everyone.

"Severus," he called out to his spy, "what else does Voldemort know of the prophecy?" He ignored the numerous flinches at the Dark Lord's name. He couldn't understand why people feared it as they did. It was only a name.

"There was not much else aside from the fact that the once's to vanquish the Dark Lord would be born at the end of July to parents who had escaped him three times."

He heaved a sigh of relief. Good, Voldemort didn't know the entire contents of the prophecy. Though that didn't negate the fact that he knew a substantial portion of it; one pertaining to exactly who the one's to defeat them were and when, if they hadn't already, they would be information was enough for him to locate the one's referring to the prophecy and eliminate them.

After all, there were only so much people that had faced Voldemort three times and had escaped with their life intact. He could say with confidence that all of them were in this very room. And four of them were pregnant...

Dumbledore sunk into his chair and rubbed his forehead as he let out a pain-filled sigh. He cast a weary glance at the occupants of the room and saw that all of them were looking at him with worry in their eyes, no doubt wanting to know exactly what was going on.

Letting out one last sigh, he addressed the gathered before him. "I'm sure you all have questions and I promise that all of them shall be answered in due time. What Severus has told is true, a prophecy in regards to Voldemort's downfall has been made but you have not heard it in it's entirety."

Seeing as he had everyone's undivided attention he continued, "A few hours ago I with met a young woman by the name of Sybill Trelawney at the Hog's Head to conduct an interview for the post of Divination professor-"

"Albus, I thought we agreed to get rid of that tripe. Divination is an unnecessary study-"

"Please let me finish Minerva before letting us know of your obvious disapproval of the subject. Now as I was saying, I met with her and was not overly impressed. I was about to refuse her the position and leave when she suddenly went into a trance and prophesied Voldemort's downfall.

The full prophecy is this: The ones with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approach...Born to parents who thrice defied him...Born as the seventh month dies...And the Dark Lord will mark one as his equal...The Marked will rise with the Unmarked...Together they will have the power the Dark Lord knows not...Power will come at the cost of the Extra...Together they will vanquish the Dark Lord...Alone they will fall...And the Dark Lord shall be forever more...One shall die at the hands of the other...For neither can live while the other survives..."

He paused, waiting for everyone to digest this new piece of information before continuing, "Now, the prophecy can be interpreted in many different ways. But, from what I have gathered, it is clear that Voldemort's vanquishers will be born at the end of July to parents who escaped him thrice, Voldemort himself will mark one of them and together they will have the power to stop him once and for all."

He stopped to fill a glass of water from the pitcher in front of him and drink it to moisten is parched throat - talking continuously for as long as he had in his old age was bound to do that. "Having said all of this, there is a catch. Will any of you care to guess what it is?"

"Sacrifice," Dorea answered without missing a beat, "someone or something will be sacrificed to grant the ones mentioned in the prophecy the power to defeat Voldemort."

"Precisely," he nodded at her as a compliment to her quick thinking, "the prophecy mentions an 'Extra'. Now what this 'Extra' is we do not know. It could be a creature, person or even an item. I am, personally, leaning towards it being a person, though I could be wrong. If it is a person then we can be assure that something tragic will befall them, prophecy is clear on that."

"So we need to find this person, if he exists, then?" Clair Lupin asked from beside her husband. She was a petite woman with curly blond hair and light blue eyes.

"No, my dear, I'm afraid we do not. For one, how will we find this person from the thousands of wizards and witches living in Britain or the millions in the whole world? What if they're not magical but instead they're muggle? Then we'd have to comb through billions of muggles to find them. Even if the person is sitting in this very room, we will do nothing to find them. One thing that I have learned through my long years of studying magic is that prophecies, the real ones anyway, are self-fulfilling. They are dictated by Fate itself and mere mortal, such as us, have no right to meddle with them."

"But what if the 'Extra' doesn't show up? The ones in the prophecy won't be able to defeat you know who then! We have to find him or her!" Henry Macmillan spoke up. He was a burly man with cropped brown hair and was know to be very skeptical.

"And do what? Walk up to them and say 'Hey man, your going to be sacrificed because of a bloody prophecy so you better get ready.'? I' with Dumbledore on this one. If this 'Extra' finds out about the prophecy and his role in it then he'd flee the country faster than you can say Molly's fluttery nightgown," Gideon Prewett, a lean man with ginger hair quipped.

"Gideon!" Molly Weasley, a plump woman with flaming red hair, shouted.

"Yes Gid, how could you say that? Everyone knows Molly doesn't wear a fluttery nightgown. She wears the raunchy ones!" Fabian Prewett, who was a mirror image of his brother, exclaimed as both the brothers burst out laughing at the scandalized look on their sister's face.

Dumbledore cleared his throat and said, " I believe we were in the middle of an important discussion."

"Sorry about that Headmaster but-"

"-we were just trying to lighten the mood-"

"-which became quite dark with all this talk of-"

"-prophecies-"

"-extras-"

"-sacrifices-"

"-and whatnot-"

"-I think-"

"-we've-"

"-most-"

"-definitely-"

"-succeeded!" they finished together.

He gave a slight chuckle and went on to say, "Well in that case I must thank the two of you. Now then, back to the prophecy. We have discussed the 'Extra' and the power his of her sacrifice will grant the ones the prophecy, the prophecy children as I am going to call them, pertains to. What's now left it the final part of the prophecy which is self-explanatory. The Marked and Unmarked must together if they wish to defeat Voldemort or else they will be defeated instead and Voldemort will remain in this world forever. And one of the two _will_ happen because 'neither can live while the other survives'."

The silence that followed those words was heavy, for everyone now realized the whole weight of the situation. While they now had a way to rid the world of Voldemort, there was also a chance for the Dark Lord to stay in power forever; a thought which made them shudder.

"So, what do we do now?" Sirius asked in an uncharacteristically serious, pun not intended, tone.

"I say we find out where who these prophecy children are and find them. We know when they'll be born so we can just stake out St Mungo's for babies born at the end of July," Mad-eye, a heavily scarred man with grizzled hair, a wooden leg and a magical eye that could see in all directions and through most objects, suggested.

"We can't 'stake out' St Mungo's Alastor. People will think we're up to something if anyone of us a seen there constantly," Norman Shacklebolt, a tall dark skinned man with a deep voice,cut in.

"Yeah Mad-eye, none of use work there," said Fabian.

"No, wait, what about Andy? She works at St Mungo's! She can tell us who's born at the end of July!" Sirius exclaimed excitedly.

"That's a good idea. Andromeda is the only one among us who can easily get around St Mungo's. She can go to the maternity ward and search for the children," Amos Diggory, a broad man with grey hair, said in support of Sirius's suggestion.

All around the table most of the members of the Order of the Phoenix were discussing the effectiveness of having Andromeda Tonks, formerly Black and a tall woman who had dark brown hair which was curled at the tips along with the other common Black features. She had been disowned by her birth family after marrying her husband Edward Tonks, commonly known Ted, who was a muggleborn with light brow hair and a stocky build.

The woman in question merely raised an eyebrow and said, "You do realize I am a Mind Healer? I have no reason to enter the maternity ward much less stay around in it. People will ask questions if I began snooping around, trying to find out the names of the children born near the end of July. I also do not possess the authorization to look through the hospital's records."

Many seemed to deflate at the woman's words and became outright downtrodden at what Dorea said next, "Aside from that, who says the children will be born here, in Britain? They could very well be born outside the country and be, consequently, almost impossible to find."

Lily bit her lower lip in worry as she watched the members of the Order debate over the course of action they should take next. She would have taken part in the discussion but didn't due to a nagging feeling that they were missing something, something important.

Suddenly it hit her like a ton of bricks and she instinctively grabbed her husbands arm, an action she took whenever she was distressed, and shouted, "James!"

Her actions drew the eyes of the entire Order but she paid them no heed, her attention was firmly fixed on James.

"Lily? What's wrong?" James asked in a soft tone. He recognized the signs and knew at once that his wife was incredibly worried about something.

"James, what am I?" she asked desperately.

"A woman?" he answered back, bewildered by the questions. Judging by the looks the others shared, he wasn't the only one.

"No, you imbecile, what am I now!?" she hissed as she tightened her hold over him, her nails digging into his arm.

He winced and bit back a gasp of pain, damn pregnancy hormones..."You're pregnant! Lily I already know that - we've celebrated and everything when we found out that you, Laura, Alice and Clair were pregnant at the same time."

"Yes! The others as well! We're all pregnant aren't we? When are we due?"

"Um...based on what the Healers told us, it the end...of July..."

All other conversations had stopped. Every eye and ear was focused on the younger potter couple, their owners, except one, not daring to believe what they were hearing.

"A-and we're all alive y-yes? W-we've survived till n-now right? H-how many t-times have we faced V-Voldemort?" her voice was breaking now and tears were pooling in her eyes.

"T-three times...!" James' eyes widened at the implication of Lily's words, as did everyone else's. It made sense. The prophecy mentioned multiple children being born at the end of July to parents who defied Voldemort thrice. And here they had four couples, all of whom had escaped Voldemort three times and were expecting children at the end of July. They fit the requirements of the prophecy, making their children the likely candidates of it. Lily gave a wail of despair as her husband finally understood why she was so worried.

While it was good news that the prophecy children were found not to mention he felt a bit proud that his child might be the one to finish off Voldemort, it also made them, more specifically, their child or children, targets of Voldemort. He would stop at nothing to find and kill their baby. He pulled his wife closer to him and whispered soothing words to her while rubbing her back.

The other expecting couples were in a similar state, now that they knew what awaited their families.

Dumbledore looked on sadly. Just thinking of the grief the young couples and their families were going through made his heart ache. He was saved from telling the Order about the likely candidates of the prophecy, Lily had done it for him, but it didn't make him feel any better.

The meeting was concluded soon afterwards and everyone went their separate ways. Almost four months later, the morning of the 31st of July saw the birth of Neville Francis Longbottom. Jonathan Arnold Lupin was born around noon followed by Mira Delphinus Black in the evening. At night Cyrus James Potter and his younger twin brother Harrison James Potter - an event that surprised everyone present during the birth - were born.

The children were all delivered at Hogwarts by Poppy. He didn't want Voldemort getting wind of their births so he them brought here where they would be safe. Those who worked had taken a short leave a few days ago with various excuses. Not many people outside the Order knew about the pregnancies of the four new mothers and those who did were trustworthy.

Months had passed since then and here he was now, thinking about everything that had happened during the past year. The biggest change, aside from the birth of the prophecy children, was Voldemort's inactivity. While there were still attacks, to remind the people that the Dark Lord was still at large, they were less frequent than before. Many of the common folk hoped this meant Voldemort was being weakened and was fleeing the country but he and the rest of the Order knew better.

Severus and Regulus had informed them that Voldemort was diverting most of his attention and forces to searching for the prophecy children, the only ones who could defeat him. So far the Dark Lord had no leads and he would like to keep it that way for as long as possible.

Right now he and various other members of the Order that were on the Wizengamot were planning on how to induct the children into the wizarding Britain - they couldn't remain hidden forever after all. So far the general consensus was officially entering their dates of birth as the end of the first and second week of August before letting the world know about them. It was the only thing they could do without too much trouble.

A house elf wearing a toga with the Hogwarts coat if arms printed on it popped in and said, "Headmaster Dumblydor! Mr. Sevy is wanting to come in, Sir!"

"Thank you, Tispy. You may return to your duties."

The elf gave a bow before disapparating from the office. Once the elf had gone, Dumbledore frowned as he thought of why Severus had come to see him. They weren't scheduled to meet for another week which meant there was a new development among the Dark and Severus deemed it important enough to inform him of it ahead of their scheduled meeting.

He allowed the spy entry and fifteen minutes later the man was sitting in front of him, pale and shaken.

"What is it Severus? Has Voldemort's investigation garnered some results?" he wasted no time on pointless greetings and cut straight to the chase.

"The Dark Lord knows about the children. He knows who they are, the names of their parents and where they live. He will be mounting an attack soon on the residences where they are staying."

One word echoed through Dumbledore's mind: How. How had Voldemort found out. He expected the Dark Lord to find out one of these days, the prophecy would have made sure of it, but he believed they had quite a few years before then. He didn't actually think Voldemort would find out so soon after the birth of the children.

"Do you have any idea how Voldemort found out?" he asked in a grave tone.

"No, but I doubt it was one of our own."

Severus was right to say that. It was impossible for any member of the Order to betray them. All of them had been made to swear an Unbreakable Vow to safeguard their secrets and not take any action against the Order or any of it's members. That, along with the anti-Dark Mark wards, made it so that no member of the Order had betrayed them.

"It must have been someone close to one of our members. They are not bound by the oath so it would relatively easy for them to divulge information to Voldemort - or someone in league with him. Severus, I am assigning you the task of rooting out the leak, or leaks. With your expertise it should only be a matter of time before the mole is found."

"I shall get to it. Permission to use _questionable_ methods of interrogation on possible suspects?"

"...permission granted," Dumbledore said after a short pause. He trusted Severus but that didn't mean he was not weary of him. The man had the most knowledge about the Dark Arts than anyone else in the Order so it would be a mistake on his part to not be slightly cautious of him.

The man in question gave a predatory smirk as he swept out of his office, his robes blowing behind him.

'I must find out how he does it...' he quickly shook all distracting thoughts out of his head and sent a Patronus message to the members of the Order, telling them to head over to Longbottom Manor immediately. He watched the Patroni swiftly fly though the night sky for a moment before getting to work.

While the Patroni all carried the same message, the ones sent to the Longbottoms, Potters, Lupins and Sirius and Laura had extra instructions.

He told the Longbottoms to ready their defenses in preparation for an attack Voldemort. He told Charlus Potter to seal Potter Manor and bring his family for an extended stay at Longbottom manor. Remus and Sirius were told the pack all their important belongings within five minutes and bring their families to headquarters via Fawkes, whom he would be sending over.

While the homes and manors of pureblood families were immune to external anti-portkey and anti-disapparation wards, ordinary homes were not. Voldemort's forces was rather notorious for employing these two specific wards over attack sights which is why he asked them to come with the help of Fawkes. Their other modes of escape were no doubt already blocked.

"Fawkes," he called out to his familiar, a a beautiful phoenix with red and gold feathers and beady black eyes. The phoenix, who had been watching Dumbledore converse with Severus, gave a soft trill before he disappeared in burst of fire.

He let out a long sigh as he too departed from the castle.

It was time to fight fire with fire, insanity with luck.

* * *

The fireplace in the drawing room of Longbottom Manor turned green, followed by the Potter family stepping through it with a few trunks floating behind them.

"Finally! The Potters are here!" A voice sounded throughout the house.

The Potters saw Frank Longbottom, a tall, muscular man with cropped hair, standing around the door looking anxious.

"Hey Frank, how's it going?" James asked. He was levitating their trunks along with his father. Lily was holding a squirming Cyrus while Dorea held Harry - short for Harrison - who was looking around with his wide, curious eyes. The two boys took after their father in every way except Harry had his mother's eyes.

"Great, other than a maniac preparing to attack us, everything's going great," Frank replied sarcastically, "Come on then, everyone's waiting and leave the trunks here. I've told the elves to take them up to your rooms."

The Potter family followed the head of House Longbottom to the dining room where some of the Order was already seated.

"Prongs! Over here!" Sirius waved them over to where he and his wife Laura, a tall woman with silver blond hair and amethyst eyes, sat. Laura was a pureblood witch who grew up in the muggle world. She was the daughter of two squibs, each of whom was born a pureblood but were disowned because they did not posses magic. Her parents were Rodrick Baggins, formerly Lestrange, and Indria Baggins, formerly Malfoy. They were some of the first to go when the war started.

Their daughter Mira was a cross between both of them. She had fair skin, dark black hair with white streaks, her mothers amethyst eyes and some of the aristocratic features of the Black family from her father. She was currently sitting in the play pen erected on one side of the room trying to finish a jigsaw puzzle.

Sitting a little away from her were Neville and John, short for Jonathan. Neville had his father's hair and his mother Alice's round, friendly face. He was a bit pudgy but that was mostly due to his grandmother constantly feeding him so that he'd grow into a strong man like his father. John had light brown hair, his father's amber eyes and his mother's facial structure which comprised of slightly narrow eyes and a large forehead. He also had enhanced senses he received from 'Moony'. The two of them were bashing each other over the head with a stuffed animal.

Cyrus' eyes lit up upon seeing his playmates while Harry groaned, as well as a baby could groan, instead which caused Dorea to chuckle. Cyrus was an energetic child who could never stay put in one place. He was always wanted to play and it was challenge to put him to bed. In comparison, Harry was a quite child. He didn't make as much noise as his brother or any of the other children and preferred to observe his surroundings rather than interact with them. He was a mature baby and would get annoyed at the antics of the other children.

"Hey Padfoot! Where's everyone else? I thought Dumbledore told all the Order members to come here?"

"He did but sent most of them off to various locations before going off himself. Everyone, aside from us and Moony, is at their own place. Gideon and Fabian are at the Prewett home and took the Weasleys there after moving them out of the Burrow. Aberforth and Poppy are at Hogwarts, Hagrid and Flitwick are at the Tonks' and like just like them other single members are also at guarding various residences."

"And Dumbledore?" Charlus asked as he took a seat. James followed suit and sat next to him.

"He's going around warding the homes of every member of the Order and placing trap because he says - in his words - 'There are bound to be some Death Eaters who'll throw all caution out of the window and walk into them like the idiotic product of insect they are, and I should know since I have seen they're O.W.L and N.E.W.T results'. Don't ask me why he said that. We're still trying to figure it out."

"Where's Remus?" Lily asked, changing the subject after putting Cyrus down in the playpen and sitting beside her husband. Their eldest clumsily walked towards Neville and John and joined in on their game of whack-each-others-heads. Harry meanwhile was trying to escape Mira's clutches as she pleaded for him to do her puzzle with her. It was an amusing sight.

"Resting. Full moon's coming up and Moony was feeling a bit under the weather. Clair took him up to their room to get him to rest otherwise he would've been down here, tearing through the carpet with his constant pacing."

James winced. The full moon always took a huge toll on their friend and it hurt to see him so weak. The most they could do for him was make his transformations more enjoyable with their Animagus forms.

"Speaking of Remus, what's this I hear about Clair becoming an Animagus?" Alice asked. She was of average height with a round, friendly face and blue eyes.

"She wanted to be by his side while he was transformed. While Transfiguration isn't her strongest subject, she's coming by nicely with Sirius and James' help,"Laura answered in her soft voice.

"That's right, I keep forgetting the two of you are also Animagi," Frank offhandedly commented.

"Why's that?" James asked.

"When you read the names of all the registered Animagus in the country every time you pass Proudfoot's door the illegal ones tend to slip out of your mind," he deadpanned.

"Come on Franky, it's not that bad," said Sirius.

"Why haven't the two of you registered? There could be serious - I'm warning you Black - repercussions if your status got leaked especially if you consider your position as Aurors," Augusta stated.

"We'd lose an edge over the Death Eaters if they knew about our forms. It's good to have a few tricks up our sleeves for when we're in a pinch," James supplied.

"Plus pissing on other people's work is funny as hell."

"That and ramming Dawlish's desk every week."

"Boys...,"Dorea sighed in exasperation. Even when they were in a dire situation, James and Sirius would not let go of their humor. The others thought the same and sighed resignedly while the two best friends and brothers in all but blood listed more examples of the things they did as animals.

Clair walked into the room in time to see a stag and large black dog leap into the air and charge at each other. Those sitting at the table were making light conversation while placing bets on who they thought would win. The kids were also cheering the two Animagus on except for Harry, who was trying to read an old Charms textbook.

"Do I want to know?" she asked as she sat down at her place, receiving a synchronized 'no' from the rather _sane_ adults.

"How's Remus?" asked Alice.

"He's better than before but that's not saying much is it? He was resting at home when Dumbledore's Patronus arrived and told us Voldemort's forces were coming. The added stress made his condition worse and I've just managed to coax him into sleeping. He wanted to help in the defense but the way he's right now he'd only end up getting injured or worse killed," her voice broke near the end and Lily put a supportive arm around her.

James and Sirius had long since returned to their human forms and the atmosphere had becoming tense - befitting their current situation. They had tried to keep the mood light for the children. They were very perceptive for their age and the adults didn't want to cause them any discomfort with their constant worrying.

The children, seeing the cuddly animals were gone and the adults were no longer smiling, began to tear up but before they could start crying, Harry came up to them an pointed towards the many toys in the playpen, diverting their attention away from the adults. The children forgot about the tense atmosphere and instead excitedly crawled over to them to play, Mira dragging Harry who was following her resignedly.

"Aw! My Harry is soo smart! He read the mood and took the others away before they could get upset," Lily cooed as she watched Harry reluctantly play with the others.

"Harry is quite smart for a baby, isn't he?" Laura commented. She was watching her daughter play house with the aforementioned child.

"I bet he'll get sorted to Ravenclaw when he goes to Hogwarts," said Frank.

"What!" Sirius exclaimed, "My godson isn't going to be some goody-two-shoes bookworm! He'll be a grand prankster and casanova like his dogfather! Gryffindor is the only place for him!"

"Hear! Hear!" James and Charlus chorused.

"Oh come off it you three. We are not getting into an argument over the Hogwarts houses, again," Augusta groaned. She had heard enough of those during her years, especially the Order meetings, and wasn't in the mood to listen to another one.

"Yeah, Frank's mum's right. Gryffindor's the best and there's no point in denying it," Sirius stated with such an intense conviction that one would think nothing other than what he said is true. The other men gave nods of agreement - all of them had been in Gryffindor while they were at Hogwarts so some bias was to be expected.

The women merely shook their heads in exasperation and Clair muttered, "Boys and their fixation with house pride and rivalries."

"Well, at least he won't go to Slytherin," said James. Almost everyone agreed with his statement, all except for one.

"Oh, I wouldn't be sure of that. Harrison _has_ seemed to have inherited his grandmother's cunning. If his successful escapes from Mira's clutches is anything to go by, my grandson is quite talented at _slithering_ out of tight spots," Dorea stated fiercely. Being the only Slytherin in the room, she felt the need to defend her house.

The others looked taken aback by the fire behind her eyes and the fact how her words rang true. Harry was rather good at avoiding what he didn't like, unlike a Gryffindor who would've bravely - or foolishly depending on who you asked - faced his problems head on.

"Mum! Don't joke about that! Harry can't be a slimy snake!" James whined.

"Oh, and I suppose that makes me, your mother, a slimy snake as well?" Dorea hissed with a dangerous undertone to her voice.

"Now now, dear, James didn't mean it like that. Besides, you have an inner Gryffindor which cancels out your outer Slytherin," Charlus placated his wife. He had been on the receiving end of her ire many times before and after their marriage and knew how to calm her down.

"Oh really? What inner Gryffindor do you speak of? Your lot is known for it's foolishness and recklessness along with the rowdiness that all of you seem to inherit whenever the hat sorts you to that house. I fail to see how any of those apply to me," she finished with a huff.

"Well, you married me. I consider that a foolish and reckless action in my book. And rowdiness? Really? Need I remind you of the time you drank a bottle of Firewhiskey? Took the house elves days to tidy up the manor!" He laughed at his wife's now red, spluttering face. Dorea looked mortified and began hitting Charlus' arm in an attempt to curb her embarrassment but it only served to make the situation more comical than it already was causing the others to laugh.

Just then there was a burst of flames as Dumbledore appeared in the room with Fawkes circling him, subduing the laughter instantly. The adult occupants of the room watched their leader slowly sat himself down in his place at the table and take off his glasses to rub his eyes. A multitude of questions were on their tongues, waiting to be asked. What was going on? Were Voldemort's forces attacking? If so, then where? What of the others? Were they safe?

"I can tell by your inquisitive stares that you have many questions to ask," the old man began after putting his glasses back on. "Voldemort is, indeed, launching attacks at certain residencies in search of the children. I have just gotten back from heavily warding and fortifying all of our safe-houses and the homes of the members of the Order. Those with smaller homes have abandoned them and are staying at the residence of another member while defending it at the same time."

"What about our place? And Remus'?" Sirius asked.

"Ah yes, your houses will be instrumental in tonight's counterattack. Instead of wards to block out our enemies, I've erected wards to trap and immobilize them should they come - and believe me they will. When they're immobilized, the wards will drain them of their magic and power up the explosive runes I've littered your homes with and blow them up."

"WHAT!?" came the outraged cry of many of the adults sitting at the table causing the children too turn their attention away from what they were doing and look at them before Harry re-diverted it back to the toys.

"I said, Ah yes...blow them up."

"NO!"

"Pardon?"

"I - we mean is why would you destroy the houses!?" Clair exclaimed.

"To kill the Death Eaters."

"Even so, you do not need to go so far as to destroy the homes of Sirius and Remus and their families. More importantly, what do you mean by killing? I do believe the Order of the Phoenix frowns upon it. You, especially, dislike needless violence and detest killing with a passion. The Order has applied non-lethal methods since the start of this war - why would you sanction killing now?" Dorea asked with a professional tone. She was the most collected among the adults, bar Dumbledore, upon hearing the headmaster of Hogwarts' plan though she too was surprised by his blatant disregard for the lives of their enemies.

"To bring an end to the war. They kill innocent people in en mass yet feel no remorse for their actions. Murder rips the soul. Most of our enemies are beyond redemption - Regulus and Severus can attest to this. The world will be a better place without them, a conclusion I came to a short while ago. Having said that, not everyone will be killed - we are not like them - and many will be imprisoned. To this end I have spoken to Bartemius and have been allowed full use of the detainment chambers."

"Why would you need one of the detainment chambers?" asked Alice. The detainment chambers were a recent creation pioneered by Moody. They were large halls meant to hold a great number of prisoners. Normally such a thing would have been impossible and possibly suicidal - why would you place numerous convicts together where they could plan and overpower the guards. The detainment chambers were special. The chamber had runes etched on every surface which stun and bind the magic of everyone present Inside. It took the combined efforts of all of the Unspeakables, with some help from Dumbledore, to set them up and the result was rooms that could hold, without fail, hundreds of prisoners for a short duration. The only downside was that the runes did not distinguish between friend or foe and their effects would wear off after some time with no way of reapplying them - they only worked upon initial contact after which they wouldn't work unless the person exited and re-entered the chamber.

"Oh that is for Commander Fawkes," he replied with a twinkle in his eyes.

"Fawkes?" They all turned to the bird in question and noticed that it was wearing a muggle military uniform, phoenix edition.

"Commander Fawkes, yes. He will be transporting our enemies to the detainment chambers with his broken teleportation ability. And, since he is very much immortal, we need not worry about his safety as he takes our enemies to their doom," he finished explaining in his wise-old-wizard voice causing Fawkes to trill in indignation and dive bomb him.

The others looked on with a perplexed expression on their faces. They could not comprehend what they were seeing. Why was the usually serene and wise Dumbledore, who had an unhealthy obsession with lemon drops, acting like this?

"Um...Dumbledore?"

"Yes, Frank?"

"Are you feeling well?"

"I'm feeling quite well, thank you for asking."

"I see, I see...it's just that, you're acting a bit strange."

"Strange? How so?"

"Well, how do I put this...you're more eccentric?"

"More bat-shit insane than usual more like it," Sirius quipped sourly. He was still sore about the Headmaster using his house as a time bomb and though he had come to terms with it after hearing the reason behind it, it still didn't stop him from being pissed at his leader.

"I'm sane as anyone else, Sirius."

"I find that hard to believe," Laura muttered under her breath. She too, like her husband, was angry at Dumbledore for setting their home up to be destroyed. She was saddened over the eventual loss of the home she built with Sirius and spent many of the greatest moments of her life in. Sirius gave his wife a one-armed hug and sent her a reassuring smile which alleviated much of her anxiety.

"Now, if there are no more questions, I do believe we should prepare to welcome our guests who shall be arriving shortly," Dumbledore said as got up and headed out of the room. The rest of them looked to each other before getting up as well to follow though Augusta stayed behind to watch over the children. The stern widow with the stuffed vulture hat wasn't as young as she used to be and wouldn't be of any help in an intense fight so she opted to stay behind and look after her grandson and the other children.

They found Dumbledore in the lawn, striding towards the gate of the property, wand in hand and a calm, determined and somewhat giddy expression on his face. He stopped a few feet from the gate and gazed intently at what lay beyond it. Following his line of sight, they failed to stifle their gasps at the sight.

An army of hundreds stood facing Longbottom Manor. The all wore black cloaks and covered their faces with bone masks. These were Death Eaters - the wizards in Voldemort's dark army. Many of wizarding Britian's most evil, demented human beings were part of this group. They enjoyed torturing and murdering innocent people and reveled in the pain they inflicted upon others.

Standing in front of them was none other than Dark Lord Voldemort. At first glance one wouldn't think he was a cruel man hell bent on conquering Britain and then the world. With neat, silky black hair, fair skin and a handsome face that would make even a married woman strongly in love breathless, the man was the epitome of male perfection. It was the eyes however, that drew one away from this beauty. Red, silted, pupils filled with malice glowed with power as the Dark Lord stared at the members of the Order of the Phoenix.

"Goodnight Tom," Dumbledore said with his patented grandfatherly voice.

"Dumbledore," Voldemort, also known as Tom Marvolo Riddle, replied neutrally though if one focused hard enough they could feel the hatred in his voice.

"I see you still carry a great deal of hatred, my boy."

The Dark Lord's eyes flared for an instant before returning back to the way they were but not before giving everyone in the vicinity a taste of the power that lay within him. Many of the Death Eaters took a step back when they felt their Lord's power and a few of the Order members were also sweating slightly but they stood firmly in their places.

"And you are still a bumbling fool."

"And you are still the pubescent teenager with foolish dreams of grandeur that you were while attending Hogwarts though I am flattered that you hold me in such high esteem. Some people prefer to call me a senile lunatic but to hear you call me a bumbling fool is heartwarming," Hogwarts' headmaster quipped genially.

"Give me the children."

"Could you repeat that, Tom? I'm afraid I have trouble hearing over such long distances due to my old age."

"You heard me just fine Dumbledore. Hand over the ones mentioned in the prophecy and I shall spare you and the rabble you surround yourself with."

"I am sorry to say that I do not understand what you are saying, Tom. There are no children here and if there were then I would deny your request. You do not set yourself as a model parent and I doubt you have any intention of being such - or even getting near a female genitalia. Though, hypothetically speaking, let us say there are five children in the dining room of the manor, hypothetically of course, with four of them being male. With your hidden homosexuality and fixation on the children, I have to ask; are you adding pedophilia to your list of faults?"

Voldemort visibly bristled at Dumbledore's words while everyone else balked at the sheer audacity of the aged wizard. The Order got over their shock soo enough varying degrees of laughter resounded in the area with James and Sirius being the loudest.

"Enough!" Voldemort snarled with an immense quantity of venom in his voice. He was Lord Voldemort, the most powerful wizards in the world. He would not be made a fool of by the likes of an old, _weak_ fool like Dumbledore.

"This is your final warning Dumbledore. Hand over the children of face the consequences."

"Ah, but Tom _my boy_ , what makes you so certain all of the children are here? Except for one, the rest should be at their respective homes, sleeping away soundly, free from the worries of us adults."

Ignoring the the condescending manner in which the aged wizard spoke his customary 'my boy', the Dark Lord gave him a blank look as he said, "It seems old age has truly dimmed your mind. Ignoring the fact that we are currently at the headquarters of your little vigilante group and that the parents of the ones referred to by the prophecy are standing behind you, I have no doubt you had the Black blood traitor and the werewolf abandon their homes so you could place traps all around them and the same goes for the Potters though in their case, you had them seal their manor. Going to any of these locations will be a waste of my time and resources, isn't that right?"

"You were, and still are, one of the brightest minds to venture through the corridors of Hogwarts. You were easily able to see through that little ploy I set up. But tell me, Tom, did you see this coming?" Dumbledore snapped his fingers and there was a large burst of fire above the Death Eater ranks. Everyone, sans the headmaster, looked up to see thousands of Acromantulas raining down on the Dark Lord's army.

Shouts and screams of panic filled the air as Death Eaters scrambled around to avoid the rain of venomous spiders. They were quite unsuccessful, however, as the Acromantulas wasted no time in latching on to the nearest Death Eater and injecting them with their venom before devouring their flesh. Some of the more experienced Death Eaters had manged to avoid getting bitten and were firing of spells at the creatures to cull their numbers. Others soon followed and soon a slaughter-fest had begun in which Death Eaters killed the Acromantulas using cutting and blasting curses of all kinds while the Acromantulas responded by poisoning the Death Eaters and letting them slowly succumb to their venom or disabling them by mutilating their limbs with their pincers.

During all of the Voldemort stood and glared hatefully at the old wizard standing before him. He had projected a shield around him that incinerated any Acromantula that got near him. He had been played by the old man. The traps and defenses at the other properties were a repellent and the prophecy children were a lure, to bring his forces for tonight's attack at a single location where they could be dealt with in a manner he never expected Dumbledore to employ.

"Aragog sends his love and says 'I hope your bloody arse get bitten off and shoved down your throat you snake-wanking half-blood bastard'."

Voldemort once more bristled at the insults but had his unspoken question of 'How?' answered. It was that oaf Hagrid's disgusting pet that sent the Acromantulas. He should have killed that vermin when he had the chance back when he framed the half-giant and now his oversight had cost of him valuable soldiers and a chance to kill the biggest threat to his plans and weaken the Order of the Phoenix.

Dumbledore snapped his fingers once more and the remaining Acromantulas disappeared in a burst of fire. Many of the surviving Death Eaters breathed sighs of relief but Voldemort became further alert and stretched his senses to figure out what the old man had planned next. Dumbledore wouldn't have called off the assault unless he had a follow up. He was well known in certain circles as the most ruthless man in the world. He could attest to this. When Dumbledore got serious there were very few that could hope to stand against him, bar him of course.

As if reading his thoughts, the old wizard smiled - a stretch of lips that sent shivers down even his spine - and snapped his fingers once more. A switch was flipped and the night became morning. The ground began to glow with an intense light that drove away the darkness. It was too bright to properly see anything and his enhanced eyesight was subjected to a stab of excruciating pain as he quickly shielded his eyes lest he get blinded.

He strengthened the shield surrounding him in case of an attack seeing as he couldn't get a proper read on his surroundings. When the light faded, only then did Voldemort open his eyes to say he was shocked by what he saw was an understatement.

Over half of his forces had vanished. The only ones remaining were most of his inner circle that had accompanied him for the night and dozens of corpses, courtesy of the Acromantulas, that littered the field in front of Longbottom Manor. He turned his questioning, anger and hate-filled eyes towards the wizard behind the events that took place moments ago and said,

"What is the meaning of this, Dumbledore? What have you done to my Death Eaters?"

His voice was no longer sounded composed, unlike prior to the Acromantula attack, and was interwoven with malice and immolating anger. If looks could kill then Albus Dumbledore would have died a hundred times over from the sheer intensity of the Dark Lord's glare.

The old headmaster, in response, adopted a teacher-like pose that would not have looked out of place inside a classroom but here it was a further mockery of Voldemort and his incapacitated forces.

"Why I simply employed the use of runic Portkeys to send them to a far off place. You know, the same runic Portkeys that you said were a waste because of the time it took to set them up."

The Dark Lord snarled at yet another jab made at his person by his arch nemesis.

"That being said, you have now lost almost all of the men and women that you had brought with you. So it goes without say that you, Tom, have _lost_ this round. I would recommend going home and drinking a mug of hot chocolate before going to bed. That always helps me when I'm _utterly_ _bested_ by someone in a game of exploding snap. Bye-bye!"

Dumbledore ended his short speech with a cheery wave at the Dark Lord to which the man responded by firing an easily deflected Killing Curse before whirling on the spot and disappearing with a soft crack. The remaining Death Eaters followed suite, their postures not as upright as they were upon their arrival.

Dumbledore took one last look at the area where the enemy forces once stood, now devoid of life, and gave a satisfied nod after which he disappeared in a burst of fire.

The other members of the Order of the Phoenix stood rooted in their places - their eyes wide with disbelief. None of them had fired as much a single spell yet an entire army had been defeated before them by the planning and foresight of a single man.

"What just happened...?" Sirius mumbled.

No one answered him.

* * *

Months have passed since the night Voldemort brought his forces at the doors of Longbottom Manor and since then the conflict in wizarding Britain has escalated. Voldemort, not taking his loss well, increased his efforts to claim the country. Death Eaters became more and more ruthless and lay devastation to the places they attacked. They, along with various magical creatures, flooded the streets - both magical and muggle - with blood and death.

In retaliation the Ministry put more effort in protecting the innocents and helping them via evacuations and supplies. Workers from all departments were put through an Auror crash course to increase their chances of survival and make them more useful while engaging Death Eaters. It wasn't uncommon to see low level workers from departments such Broom Regulatory Control and the Official Gobstones Club banding together and successfully defeating low ranking Death Eaters.

It was a genius move that saved many lives and took pressure off the, now official, Order of the Phoenix. Minster Bagnold declared the Order of the Phoenix an official, Ministry-allied organization headed by Albus Dumbledore. This was done on Dumbledore's request to reduce the confusion on the battlefield by cutting the previous three sides down to two. The identities of most of the members may have been jeopardized - not that they were a secret with open battle at places like Diagon Alley anyway - but the loss of anonymity was much better than taking a spell to the back by an Auror who wasn't part of the group.

This also served an extra purpose, that being providing an alibi for the various members of the previously secret group. Lately the Death Eaters had taken to using glamours and Polyjuice potion to disguise themselves as their enemies and committing crimes using their name and face in order to fame them. Dumbledore protected the members of his group by making the general public aware of where their allegiances lay and assuring that there were no spies or traitors in the Order.

A bill was passed in the Wizengamot that allowed the "official" use of lethal spells by the Aurors, trained Ministry workers and the Order when dealing with Voldemort's dark army. This, again, was spearheaded by Hogwarts' headmaster. He argued that playing by the rules on their ended bolstered the Death Eaters' confidence in their actions as they faced no serious repercussions aside from Azkaban which was severely compromised due to many of the Dementors siding with Voldemort.

A heavy hand was needed to combat the Death Eaters and put an end to Voldemort's reign of terror. He called for the allowance of many borderline-dark and dark spells to be freely used against the Dark Lord's army and _only_ the army. The bill was passed unanimously after Dumbledore revealed a new trace that would be placed on wands of those under the employment of the Ministry and the Order - most of them - in order to detect the use of dark magic. It would allow them to ensure that the new bill was not being abused by people looking to settle scores with old enemies and rivals or generally cause mayhem. A new ward was to be erected over the _entirety_ of the British Isles comprising over a _million_ ward stones. The ward would detect the usage of dark magic by the marked wands and exactly where the magic was used. Ministry workers would then be sent to investigate to see if there was an attack by Voldemort's forces or if it was someone abusing the new law. Backup was called in case of the former and detainment procedures were carried out for the latter.

While things were starting to look up for the people of Britain due to the numerous countermeasures against Voldemort and his army put in place, one Albus Dumbledore was gulping down cauldrons of Calming Drought and Pepper-up Potion on a daily basis to keeps himself invested in the war and not fall behind Voldemort.

Things had been hectic for the aged headmaster ever since he learned that Voldemort knew the identities of the prophecy children. He had been drinking a wide variety of potions on a daily basis. They were the only things that kept him going these days and keeping up with Voldemort.

His victory at Longbottom Manor was the trigger to the increased conflict and violence across all of Britain. In hindsight, he should have seen this coming but the vial of Felix Felicis that let him pull off the un-Dumbledore-ish plan back then made him blind to the consequences of his actions. The elixir of luck was a dangerous substance, it addled the drinkers brain and a single gulp can have long lasting effects on the drinker's mind.

Despite the dangers it posed, Dumbledore didn't refrain from drinking it on numerous occasions since then and as a result many lives were saved and numerous advances were successfully made against Voldemort and his forces. But at what cost? Nothing other than his sanity.

The effects of his constant drinking of Felix Felicis and various other potions had become noticeable within two weeks of the events at Longbottom Manor. He no longer hesitated in employing ruthless and brutal methods to cull the dark army nor did he hesitate in assigning others to carry them out. He could now care less about the number of their enemies killed and did not bother preaching about love and second chances.

He was very different from the Albus Dumbledore of the old but some similarities were still there. He still cared deeply about his friends, colleagues and acquaintances and did his utmost best to keep them alive though he had slipped up a few times and had to bear witness to many people cross over to the other side. People like the Elphias, Gideon, Fabian, most of the Bones family and the entire McKinnon family. Too many people had been lost yet the frightening thing was that he couldn't bring himself to care much for their deaths. After the initial stab of pain upon hearing of their deaths, he got over them and carried on with his work like nothing of importance had happened though he was solemn whenever their name came up.

It was disgusting. A part of him, buried deep inside the man now known as Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore was disgusted by what he had become. There was no fixing it. Poppy, Severus and Andromeda had all confirmed that his mind was irreversibly damaged. The only thing he could do now was bring an end to the war and stop any more lives from being lost.

Easier said than done.

Not only Voldemort becoming more and more ruthless with each passing day and increasing the intensity and number of attacks throughout Britain, he also got hold of a priceless artifact that made it all but impossible for anyone to beat him.

The Elder Wand. The Wand of Destiny. The Death Stick.

A single, slender stick of wood that has shed more blood than any other item throughout history. It was the wand from the Tale of the Three Brothers. Whether the story is accurate or not is unclear. But still, there is no denying the power of the wand. A simple _Incendio_ can be made to the same level as _Igne Furoris._ It was an incredibly powerful wand that could change the tide of battle.

And he had lost it. Lost it to the Dark Lord that was trying to take over Britain. He had been distracted while facing Tom - the screams of people burning alive would do that - and because of that he had been disarmed spectacularly and the wand's allegiance shifted to a new master, Voldemort. He had felt his connection to the wand sever so there was no doubt he had truly lost it. It was only his original wand, maple with a phoenix feather and unicorn hair, that he kept on himself at all times that saved him from dying there and then.

All hope now lay on the Prophecy Children. They were the only ones who could defeat Voldemort once and for all. They, along with their families, were constantly changing residences. A temporary Fidelius Charm was placed on the residence they would occupy at any given time with the fathers of the children as the secret keepers. It was a good way of keeping them hidden and away from Voldemort's grasp. He hoped the current set up would at least last till the children were old enough to start practicing magic. He planned on personally instructing each and every one of them in various schools of magic.

He was also worried about James, Sirius and Remus. It turns out the person who sold them out to Voldemort and endangered their families was none other than Peter Pettigrew, long-time friend of the three men and one of those people the explicitly trusted despite him not being a member of the Order. Severus had narrowed down the possibilities to him and shared his findings with the rest of the Order.

As expected, the Marauders became angry at Severus for suspecting their friend and many others for believing him. They set off to look for him and clear his name but when they returned to headquarters after a couple of hours, they were crestfallen but furious at the same time. From what he had gathered, Peter had fled and disappeared with so much as a word to anyone else. He had not been captured - Severus and Regulus would have informed them if that were the case - and had instead taken most of his valuable belongings with him.

He was the only one from the quite large list of suspects to do so, signaling him out as the one who had betrayed his friends and mentors. The other Marauders didn't take Peter's betrayal lightly and dove headfirst into their work and missions for the Order in order to dull the pain of the betrayal and, at the same time, catch word of his whereabouts so that they could capture and confront him. They had cooled down quite a bit recently with the help of their respective families and began spending more time with them once more.

The old headmaster was currently sitting on his chair at the staff table inside the Great Hall of Hogwarts. In front of him were a collection of various pumpkin dishes set on the table and beyond that was a sea of orange with which the students of Hogwarts were celebrating Halloween.

He had a nagging feeling in the back of his head which told him that something wasn't right, that tonight an event would take place that would change the world as he knew it. He squashed that feeling in favor of savoring the delicious pumpkin pie in front of, courtesy of the House Elves of Hogwarts. His head had not been exactly 'right' for many months now so he really had no reason to trust it at the moment.

* * *

Lily Potter couldn't help but glance around uneasily as she glanced around the dining room of Longbottom Manor. She, James, her in-laws, Sirius, Laura, Remus and Clair had all been brought to the manor by Frank and Alice. The four families, bar Augusta, were staying together at the Potter holiday home at Gordric's Hollow for a few days. It was one of those times when all four of the families stayed at one place with their children.

And right now the adults were all seated around the table while the children were alone in the nursery. They did not bring the children with them because Longbottom Manor was too predictable of a location to house them. They did not want Voldemort at the manor's gates once more should he catch wind of the children being there.

The problem with the old manors of Ancient Houses is that they cannot be put under the Fidelius Charm. The size is too big and the numerous wards, old and new, surrounding them interferes with the charm. It was because of this they were moving between various houses owned by the Potters and the Longbottoms and other Order members and putting up temporary Fidelius Charms along with other useful-but-compatible wards to hide the children.

It wasn't the greatest of methods but it worked. So right now they had come to attend the dinner for no longer than an hour and had left the children in the care of house elves. Should they need anything, the house elves would cater to them and if they, their parents, were needed then the elves would come get them.

Despite her worry, she was glad that she had agreed to come as the lighthearted atmosphere around the table helped to alleviate much of her stress from the last few months. The constant moving and staying indoors had gotten to her and she felt refreshed by just sitting here. She could tell it was the same for the others as well. They looked less wary and were honestly enjoying themselves after a long period of general isolation, coping with the deaths of their friends and relatives and being alert constantly to make sure they weren't caught off guard in a surprise attack.

She would go back to fretting about the safety of her family later at night. Right now, she decided, was the time to unwind and relax with her husband and friends after a stressful year. The children were protected and it wasn't as if much could happen in the hour they would be away from them.

If only she knew.

* * *

In a damp street illuminated by street lights and the lights from the windows of various houses, stood a man in a dark, silk robe. His red eyes were gazing at a place that was there and not there at the same time. His right hand held a fifteen inch long stick of finely crafted elder wood.

Children dressed up in colorful costumes of all kind passed by him with their parents or elders that were charged with taking care of them while they were outside yet no one spared the man a single glance. One child walked a mere inch away from him yet his eyes dd not wander over to him even once. It was as if no one could see him standing there in the middle of the street.

Which is true, of course. No one could see him for he was invisible. One of his servants had acquired for him one of the most peculiar artifacts he had ever laid his eyes on or held in his hands. He had stolen it from the owners of the house he was watching yet not seeing, the family his former friend - who he had betrayed - belonged to.

It was an invisibility cloak unlike any other. Not only did it render the wearer invisible but it also hid them from the rest of the world. No manner of tracking, be it magical of muggle, could find the one underneath it but that wasn't what made it truly remarkable. No, it was the ability to bypass wards that made this cloak truly unique and separated it from the others. This particular ability manifested itself after he had taken the wand of his greatest enemy for himself. He did not know what was the connection between the two - or rather three was. The cloak, wand and the ring of Salazar Slytherin that he wore on his left hand all bore the same mark. A triangle with a circle inside of it and a straight line running through them. He would study them n detail after completing the task at hand.

What he did know was that it would serve his purpose tonight rather well. After one of the most humiliating loss' he had ever been forced to endure, Lord Voldemort studied his adversaries extensively and predicted their next course of action. Hiding under the Fidelius Charm was the conclusion he had come to so before they had the chance to carry out their plan, he had imperiused a rather high-ranking goblin from Gringotts and retrieved copies of the financial details of House Potter and Longbottom and the Black and Lupin couples.

He had no interest in the income or wealth of his targets. All he was interested in were to lists of holdings. He memorized and visited each location on those lists after which he waited. Soon enough he unable to recall a few of the locations for short periods of time. At times only one of the locations was occupied but he couldn't be sure if all of the children were there or not. He had called upon the Lestranges and made use of their knowledge about the locations of the homes of every know Order of the Phoenix member and those connected to them. There were times when the three could not remember the locations of some of the residencies despite fully knowing them the day before which cemented his theory about them using residencies other than their own.

It was not a problem for him, however. He began coordinating with some of his most loyal followers and soon reached a point where all of the children were in a single place, one that was not as well fortified as the other residences where they all stayed together.

He had waited in front of the house for days, looking for the perfect opportunity to go inside and kill the ones who were supposed to defeat him. He would kill them before they got powerful, nullifying the prophecy and cementing his reign for all time to come. Patience was the key and he had it in spades. He had conducted a ritual years ago that would remove his body's need to eat and drink along with one that would allow him to stay up for weeks by conserving his energy. He did not require any maintenance like ordinary mortals and the cloak kept him hidden at all times. Also add in a subtle notice-me-not charm and he could stand here for a month with none the wiser.

It was on this night, the 31st of October, that the chance he was waiting for finally arrived. Recently, by means of rituals, he could detect all magical beings within a hundred meters of himself. He instantly detected the departure of all the adult magical signatures from the house, leaving only the children and two house elves.

A sinister smirk made its way to his face as he walked towards the place where he knew the house was, thanks in part to his new magical senses. He safely crossed the boundary of the wards and the Fidelius Charm and at once the house became visible to him.

'Truly a fascinating object, this invisibility cloak,' the Dark Lord mused to himself as he approached the front door and casually opened it. 'Those fools were so sure of the Fidelius and the wards surrounding the house that they did not think of warding the doors and windows. Their carelessness will be their downfall.'

He waited for this exact moment, when the adults were not in the house, to enter and kill the children. While he could have entered at any other time and taken on the parents and the Lord and Lady Potter without too much difficulty, he didn't want Dumbledore to catch wind of the attack and arrive instantly with his Phoenix. That fight would have gotten harder then and he would be too busy dealing with the headmaster to focus on the children, letting them get away and destroying his chances of finding them again should they relocate and change their hiding strategy.

'Besides, it's better this way. Let them taste true despair when they return to see their final hope dead and my mark hanging over the home whose security they were so sure of. They would lose all hope of going against me and I will finally take over Britain and then expand to the rest of the world.'

He kept on walking, past the house elves who had heard the door open but could not see, hear of feel anyone enter the house. The elves were so confused that they did not even think of alerting their masters of the strange occurrence. He stunned both of them and moved on.

The Dark Lord climbed up the stairs and soon reached the room where the children were being kept. He stood before the door, reveling at the feeling of triumph he felt for finally reaching the ones prophesied to defeat him. Dumbledore had done his hardest to hide news of them from him and tried even harder to keep them safe while holding him at bay. But no more. Tonight he would not only secure his victory in the war, he would also prove himself to be Albus Dumbledore's superior - he had not only taken the old man's wand for himself but had also gotten past every measure he put in place to keep the weapons of his destruction safe thereby proving that nothing can stop him, Lord Voldemort, from achieving his goals.

He opened the door and his face immediately took on a look of utter disgust at what he saw. The room was _full_ of stuffed animals of all shapes and sizes. The multitude of colors made it look as if someone puked an entire box of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans. All of the walls were of a different color as was the furniture and decorations. The room was also too bright for his taste. He did not want to stay there longer than necessary so he locked the door with the strongest locking charm he knew and set up a quick ward that would stop even house elves from entering the room along with a ward to prevent the use of dark magic from being detected by the wards.

He went to the play pen. The children were all awake and were playing when the door to the room opened and they stopped to see who was there. When they saw no one they went back to their games except for Harry who was still staring at the door. He had a feeling that there was someone there but he couldn't be sure. The others, seeing that the youngest among them was still looking at the door that had now closed, also gazed at the door.

Unknowingly they were actually looking straight at Voldemort who was making his way towards them. When the Dark Lord reached them he took off the invisibility cloak and smiled maliciously at the confused looks the children were sending his way, No words were needed to be said - he was about to kill them so saying anything would have been pointless, not that they would have understood him in first place.

He raised his new wand, the pure power flowing through it was thrilling, and pointed it at prophecy children. What he was about to do would normally have been impossible but he had found, much to his delight, his new wand to not follow the existing magical laws. It was unbound and could do the greatest magical feats that no other wand could manage. The tip glowed green and he whispered the words that would end everything...

" _Avada Kedavra_!"

Five jets of bright green light rushed forward to meet their targets. All of the children panicked and attempted to scramble out of the way. While they did not know exactly what the green light was, their instincts were prompting them to move out of the way. Unfortunately for them, their bodies were not developed enough to dodge the fast curse.

Just before the curses could impact them however, a shield composed of some sort of green magical energy surrounded the children and absorbed the killing curses. The youngest Potter child started screaming the older one cried out in pain and before Voldemort could react a jet of black light with a greenish tinge impacted him.

He was in excruciating pain but he could not scream. He could feel his soul being forcibly torn from his body which was breaking down at an incredibly fast rate. In a manner of seconds his body was destroyed and his soul was ejected from it. He fled as quickly as possible, not wanting anything further happening to him and barely escaped the explosion that went of inside the nursery due to the magical backlash.

Moments later almost the entire Order of the Phoenix arrived at Gordric's Hollow and saw the roof of the Potters' house come down at one side of the house and the upper floor on fire. The Fidelius Charm had faded and the house had been stripped bare of all its wards. The Potters were the first ones to rush into the burning building followed by Sirius and Laura, the Lupins and Longbottoms.

The other members made to follow but Dumbledore instructed them to deal with the muggles who saw the house and them apparate. He also told them to contact both the Ministry and St Mungo's before entering the house himself.

Most of the fire had been put out but some of it was still left. A quick wave of his hand dealt with it and he entered the utterly wrecked nursery to find the children in the arms of their respective parents. They were crying while their parents comforted them. He relaxed, thinking for a moment that everything was okay, that the children were in good health and were all still alive for he saw no visible signs of injury besides some light bleeding from Cyrus' forehead.

But Lily's sorrowful wail crashed that line of thinking and attracted the attention of the other parents as well.

"Harry, baby, speak to mummy! Please open your eyes!" The red haired woman said frantically, tears streaming down her face. James had one arm draped around her shoulder and was trying to shake Harry awake with the other. Cyrus was in Dorea's and was crying while attempting to reach out for his brother. Dorea's eyes were also tearing up as she witnesses her son and his wife get more desperate in their attempts to rouse her younger grandson.

"What seems to be the problem?" Dumbledore asked calmly as he stood beside the Potter family.

Charlus whirled towards him, seemingly angry at him for taking the situation lightly but he calmed down instantly when he remembered that the aged headmaster's mind was damaged. Instead he told him the informed of the situation while reigning in his own emotions - the rest of his family had been reduced to tears already and it was up to him to remain strong for them. "It's Harry, Albus. He's not breathing."

That brought gasps from the other three couples and they quickly got beside the Potters as well. Neville and Jonathon had fallen asleep but Mira was very much still awake and was looking at Harry with tears streaming down her face as well like most of the occupants of the room. She was not crying. Instead she was saying his name, which was her first word, repeatedly hoping that he'd wake up and play with her as usual upon hearing her voice.

"Can I see him?"

Charlus and James had pry Harry out of Lily's iron grip. When they succeeded in doing so she latched onto her husband and began crying, loudly. Dumbledore took Harry from Charlus and began casting a series of diagnostic spells on him and detection spells around the room. At first his face was normal but it soon became grimmer before settling on a pained, stricken expression before changing into a solemn look.

He conjured a white cloth and wrapped it around his body before placing him on the floor. He looked at them all for a moment, showing them the age and wisdom behind his eyes despite the the damage to his mind.

"Harrison James Potter," he began, "is a hero. Tom Marvolo Riddle who now calls himself Lord Voldemort, came to this house minutes prior from now. He attempted to kill the prophecy children and used no less than five Killing Curses at once to do so. Harry sacrificed his magic to stop and absorb them into himself. He then, somehow, cast a spell to destroy Voldemort's body and the backlash from the spell, in return, destroyed the room. It was through his magic that he and the other children were kept safe and unharmed other than the scar on young Cyrus' forehead. His soul has been fractured at five different places and is braking as I speak. His magic is no longer with him. Some of it remains in this room while the majority of it has been divided into four equal parts and is now inside the other children. Harrison James Potter sacrificed his life and afterlife to keep the other children alive and bring an end to Voldemort, for now. He is a hero and should be remembered as such."

Having said that he quickly got up and left the room, intent on delivering the news to the other member of the Order. He did not look back as he heard the crying of multiple adults and children at the loss of a young and precious life. He himself was barely holding back his tears. A part of the reason why he could quickly get over the deaths of others was that he, like many others, believed in the 'Next Great Adventure' or the afterlife and knew that he and others would be reunited with their loved ones once more after their lives in this world came to an end. That wasn't possible in Harrison's "Harry's" case.

Harry had died, there was no doubt about that. For a wizard their magic is as important as their lives. Without their magic they will surely die. It was because of this vows made on one's magic were taken very seriously. Harry had been stripped of all his magic. There was not a single drop of it left inside of him. This, alone, would not have been that devastating for him. It was the matter of Harry's soul that brought him to tears. The reason why a Dementor's Kiss was considered a punishment worse than death was because it took away any chance of the person's spirit crossing over to the other side. Their soul will remain in the dementor and eventually fade away, making them disappear for good. Harry's soul fracturing and its subsequent destruction is no different from a Dementor's Kiss.

Harry Potter was dead and no one would be meeting him ever again. It was a thought that made even him, broken as he was, weep with sorrow.

* * *

The funeral was a quite affair. They had decided to keep Harry's death from public for a few days to conduct his funeral peacefully. He didn't want to even announce the death of his son, it was painful as it was and he didn't need pitying looks directed at him or reporters hounding his family. But Dumbledore insisted that it had to be done. To honor Harry's sacrifice - a word that angered him like none other - and to demoralize Voldemort's army further.

The dark army was in disarray. Snape told them that Voldemort had left on a personal errand and it had been a few days since he was due to return which made his forces worried. Announcing the maniacs death, no matter how temporary it was, would no doubt be the final nail on the coffin and would allow their side to overtake them and bring an end to the war.

He still couldn't believe that Voldemort was still alive. Dumbledore had told them that his soul was not present anywhere inside the house meaning it had fled and he was out there, somewhere, recovering his strength. When asked exactly _how_ he could tell the soul had fled and had not been destroyed he replied by saying that there was no residue left behind, something destroyed souls leave apparently.

No one knew how and why Dumbledore knew so much about soul magic and souls in general but the old man wouldn't tell. It was a dangerous field of study that was outlawed a few decades ago by Dumbledore himself.

He felt shuffling beside him and quickly shut down his previous train of thought to focus on his wife. Lily had been a mess ever since she had came to terms with the fact that Harry had died. Before that she was in hysterics and had lashed out at anyone for even suggesting that her younger son could be dead. Afterwards she had become subdued and stayed locked up in their room at Potter Manor. It had taken a lot of pleading and by him, his parents and their friends to have her get ready and come to the funeral.

She was staring transfixed at the tiny coffin that held their son, her eyes bloodshot and her tears long since dried up. He held her close to him, giving her some semblance of comfort and she melted into his one-armed embrace, desperately clinging on to him for support. Support that he was giving and would continue on giving wholeheartedly.

The ones attending the funeral included the entirety of the Order of the Phoenix - except Snape and Regulus, obviously - , all of the Hogwarts staff and many senior aurors and important Ministry officials such as the Minister. Only the Order knew of the Prophecy and the full truth of what happened on that night. The rest only what Dumbledore had told them, that Voldemort had come to Gordric's Hollow where the children were staying while their parents were attending a dinner at Longbottom Manor and had attempted to kill all of them only for Harry's accidental magic to act up and protect the other children and destroy Voldemort at the cost of his own life. They bought the story and the Minster would personally announce Voldemort's downfall, back by Dumbledore, after the funeral was over.

There were others who were attending the funeral as well such as many of their friends from Hogwarts who they kept in touch with, shop owners from Diagon Alley whose stores the frequent, Lily's parents and, surprisingly, her sister Petunia. He had called his in-laws and told them about Harry's death. They were heartbroken and had come as soon as it was time for the portkey to bring them here. What took him and many others by surprise was Petunia arriving with them. It was no secret that Lily and her sister didn't get along and had even gone as far as to vow to never see each other again so her coming to attend the funeral of her _magical_ nephew was not expected.

Lily's family was standing next to his parents and were looking at her with pain and worry in their eyes. They wanted to talk with her but she hadn't spoken a word to anyone for some time now so they stood back for now.

Sirius was standing on his other side, staring at the ground with his hands clenched into fists. His nails were digging into his palms and drawing blood but he paid them no mind. He was angry and depressed over the loss of his godson. When he had asked him and Remus to choose between Harry and Cyrus as their godchildren, though they both forwent their choices and became godfathers to both of them later on, Sirius chose Harry in an instant. There was something about his younger son that drew his best friend towards him.

Laura was standing next to him and was comforting him in the same manner he was comforting Lily. He was honestly glad that Sirius had someone like Laura in his life. The two complimented each other and were a perfect match. Their daughter was at Potter Manor with the other babies and younger children.

Thinking about Mira made him frown deeply. The little girl, his goddaughter hadn't stopped crying ever since Harry had died. She would cry, tire herself out and go to sleep only to wake up and cry again. No one understood why she was doing this. Even Cyrus, Harry's older twin brother, hadn't cried that much and had somewhat returned to his normal routine of playing with Neville and John.

His thoughts were once more cut off, this time by Dumbledore who had finished delivering his sermon. Another, welcome, change was that Dumbledore was slowly reverting to his previous self. Andromeda speculated that Harry's death and the manner in which he died shocked the old wizard enough to fight off some of the effects of his potion abuse. While he wouldn't fully recover, ever, he could still become close to how he used to be before.

He let go of Lily and handed her over to his mother before walking up to the coffin. He took out his wand and dug out the earth to place the coffin in. They were at the Potter family cemetery where every Potter had been buried ever since the family was founded. He looked at the grave he had dug and then the coffin. It was a wizarding tradition to levitate the coffin into the grave but he decided to forgo tradition and lifted the coffin himself to place it in the grave.

It was the heaviest item he had ever lifted and not in the physical sense.

He levitated the dirt from before and closed up the grave. A loud cry of "NO!" drew his attention and he turned around to see his wife being held back by his parents and her parents while she made a desperate attempt to stop Harry from being buried.

He felt a hand on his shoulder and he looked to see Dumbledore giving him a slight nod to which responded in kind. The message was clear: Go to you wife, I'll finish it up. He walked back to his family and brought Lily into his arms. She was begging him to get Harry out of the grave, to not subject him to that small, dark space. He kissed the top her head and brought her in closer, all the while fighting off a fresh wave of tears.

He could see Dumbledore waving his wand and making grass and flowers bloom over Harry's grave. He then pointed his wand at the slab of marble they had bought and shaped it into a beautiful tombstone. It was a foot high and had curved sides with an ornate design consisting of lilies and stags with the Potter coat of arms in the top center. Underneath it was epitaph which said:

HERE LIES HARRISON JAMES POTTER

31ST JULY 1980 - 31ST OCTOBER 1981

A PRECIOUS SON, GRANDSON AND GODSON

MAY HE BE REMEMBERED AS A HERO

THE ONE WHO VANQUISHED THE DARK LORD

THE BOY-WHO-CONQUERED

* * *

It was dark and cramped. He didn't have enough room room to move around nor did have air to breath in. He was scared. He wanted his parents, his brother and even the tiresome girl. But there was no one there. He was alone. He wanted to leave, to be out in the open. So he did so.

He felt the floor underneath him change into something harder and colder than what it was before. It was still dark. His eyes could not see anything. But he was no longer scared. He felt comfortable, a sense of belonging.

Someone approached him. He could not see, hear or feel them. It was just like before. Though this time he did not feel uneasy. Instead he felt peace and serenity.

A cold hand touched his face but to him it may as well have been the warmest thing he had ever felt.

"Well what do we have here?"

The one touching him was a male with a soft, chilling voice. His eyes had begun adjusting to the darkness and he could see a pale hand in front of him.

"Are you the next one? You are too young but the fact that you have them and they fully chose you can mean nothing else."

He stopped speaking and took the time to study his features, slowly running his hand over his face.

"You're eyes are magnificent. You have a great journey ahead of you and I will help you complete it. So rest for now, little one, and wait for the new dawn. The dawn that will signal the end of your old life and start of a new one. The dawn that will usher in a new era and do away with the old one."

His eyes closed shut and he slept soundly once more.


End file.
